The Final Cut (occasionally subtitled A Requiem For The Post-War Dream by Roger Waters is the twelfth  by English  group . It was released on 21 March 1983 by  in the United Kingdom, and several weeks later by  in the United States. The Final Cut is Pink Floyd's last studio album to include founding member, bassist and songwriter , and their only album on which he alone is credited for writing and composition. It is also the only Pink Floyd album that does not feature keyboardist .

Waters originally planned The Final Cut as a  for the 1982 film . With the onset of the , he rewrote it as a , exploring what he considered the betrayal of his father, who died serving in the . Most of its lyrics are sung by Waters;   provides vocals on only one track. The packaging, also designed by Waters, reflects the album's war theme. Although it reached the top of the , the album received mixed reviews. Recorded in eight British studios from July to December 1982, with an accompanying  released in the same year, production of The Final Cut was dominated by interpersonal conflict. Waters left the band in 1985 and The Final Cut remains the last Pink Floyd album he worked on. 

Background

The Final Cut was originally planned as a  for the 1982 film . Under its working title Spare Bricks, it would have featured new music or songs re-recorded for the film, such as "" and "", respectively. Bass guitarist, vocalist, and primary songwriter Roger Waters also planned to record a small amount of new material for the album, further expanding The Wall's narrative. 

As a result of the , Waters changed direction, and began writing new material. He saw  's response to 's invasion of the islands as  and unnecessary, and dedicated the new album – provisionally titled Requiem for a Post-War Dream – to his father, Eric Fletcher Waters, a  of the 8th , who died during , at , between  and Rome in Italy, on 18 February 1944, when Roger was five months old. Gilmour disliked the political direction, which sparked arguments between him and Waters. Several pieces of music considered for but not used on The Wall, including "", "", "" and "", had initially been set aside for Spare Bricks, and although Pink Floyd had often re-used older material in their work, Gilmour felt the songs were not good enough for a new album. He wanted to write new material, but Waters remained doubtful as Gilmour had lately contributed little to the band's repertoire.

The Final Cut was about how, with the introduction of the Welfare State, we felt we were moving forward into something resembling a liberal country where we would all look after one another ... but I'd seen all that chiselled away, and I'd seen a return to an almost Dickensian society under Margaret Thatcher. I felt then, as now, that the British government should have pursued diplomatic avenues, rather than steaming in the moment that task force arrived in the South Atlantic.

— Roger Waters

I'm certainly guilty at times of being lazy, and moments have arrived when Roger might say, "Well, what have you got?" And I'd be like, "Well, I haven't got anything right now. I need a bit of time to put some ideas on tape." There are elements of all this stuff that, years later, you can look back on and say, "Well, he had a point there." But he wasn't right about wanting to put some duff tracks on The Final Cut. I said to Roger, "If these songs weren't good enough for The Wall, why are they good enough now?"

— David Gilmour

The album's working title was changed to The Final Cut, a reference to 's : "This was the most unkindest cut of all". "When the Tigers Broke Free" was issued as a single on 26 July 1982, with "Bring the Boys Back Home" on the B-side.The single was labelled "Taken from the album The Final Cut" but was not included on that album until the 2004 CD reissue.  

Track listing

All lead vocals performed by  except "" by  and Roger Waters.

All songs written and composed by Roger Waters. 

Side oneNo.TitleLength1.""  3:022.""  4:223.""  1:234.""  2:565.""  5:076.""  3:40Side twoNo.TitleLength1.""  1:192.""  4:113.""  2:134.""  4:465.""  5:016.""  5:14 Personnel Pink Floyd Additional musicians  – piano,   –   – percussion  – drums on "Two Suns"  –  , conducted and arranged by Michael Kamen Album vinyl and sound playback are both in Near Mint condition. Cover is Excellent and still looks bright and shiny. Original inner sleeve has very small tears on all three edges. See listing pix for details.  This will be securely packaged with bubble wrap and shipped in cardboard box via USPS Media to anywhere in the U.S. Overseas orders will be charged International shipping rates that apply. Please contact me prior to get those rates.

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